WASHINGTON - North Korea says it is making progress in producing enriched uranium for its light-water nuclear reactor, raising fresh concerns that the controversial project could be used to develop atomic weapons.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that the country’s “experimental” uranium enrichment program is “progressing apace.”
North Korea unveiled its low-enriched uranium plant […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has told Iraqi leaders in Baghdad that the two countries are embarking on a “new path” as the United States prepares to complete a troop pullout by the end of December.
Biden was speaking Wednesday in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The vice president said the […]
LONDON - Britain says it is withdrawing some of its embassy staff from Iran following Tuesday’s mob assaults on British diplomatic compounds in the capital, Tehran.
In a statement Wednesday, the British foreign office says the safety of British embassy personnel and their families is London’s immediate priority. It did not say how many staff are […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has told aides he is reassessing the viability of his campaign after a woman from Georgia alleged she had a 13-year affair with him.
The accusation of infidelity follows a series of sexual harassment allegations that have already complicated Cain’s pursuit of his party’s nomination.
In a Tuesday morning […]
LOS ANGELES - A judge has sentenced Michael Jackson’s personal physician to four years in prison for the 2009 death of the pop superstar.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor Tuesday handed the sentence to Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted earlier this month of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death. Murray, however, could serve only […]
TEHRAN - Iranian protesters have stormed the British Embassy in Tehran in response to Britain’s new economic sanctions against Iran for its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons.
Iranians scattered embassy documents, threw stones, broke windows and replaced the British flag with an Iranian one Tuesday. The rioters also looted a portrait of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
Outside […]
WASHINGTON - The Fitch Ratings credit-ranking company is warning it may lower the United States’ credit rating if U.S. lawmakers fail to agree on a plan to reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficit next year.
The credit agency said Monday the U.S. will keep it’s top-tier AAA credit rating for now. But the company lowered the […]
WASHINGTON - American Airlines’ parent company has filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure a deal with pilots to cut labor costs.
The nation’s third largest airline said Tuesday it sought bankruptcy court protection to reduce its costs and debt to competitive levels. The airline said normal flight operations will continue during a reorganization.
American had been […]
MOGADISHU - Rebels from the Somali militant group al-Shabab have banned several international aid organizations and raided their offices in central and southern Somalia.
The al-Qaida-linked group on Monday ordered the World Health Organization, the U.N. Children’s Fund and the U.N.’s refugee agency to halt their operations along with several others in rebel-controlled areas.
The militants also […]
CAIRO - Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, agreed Sunday to impose a series of biting economic sanctions on Syria, after Damascus failed to accept an Arab plan to send monitors in response to its deadly crackdown on an opposition uprising. The ministers will meet again next Saturday to review the effects of their […]
CAIRO - Egyptians have begun casting their ballots in the first parliamentary elections since a popular uprising ended the 30-year rule of former president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Voters stood in long lines early Monday, well before polling stations opened. Thousands of Egyptian judges are monitoring the process.
The staggered polls to elect parliament’s lower house began […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. consumers spent their way to a new record in the days following the Thanksgiving holiday, giving retailers hope for better profits in a year of mostly gloomy economic news.
A retail federation survey Sunday said some 226 million people shopped in stores and on the internet, spending more than $52 billion, 16 percent […]
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has ordered the United States to move out of an airbase on its territory, after shutting down NATO’s two main overland supply routes into Afghanistan. Popular anger is mounting in Pakistan after NATO’s killing of 24 Pakistani military personnel in a cross-border airstrike Saturday.
American forces have been given 15 days to vacate […]
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials say NATO helicopters from Afghanistan attacked two military checkpoints in northwestern Pakistan early Saturday, killing at least 26 troops and wounding 14 others.
Pakistan retaliated within hours by closing both of its border crossings into Afghanistan, effectively suspending NATO supply convoys through its country to its landlocked neighbor. Top Pakistani civilian and […]
WASHINGTON - Authorities in Brazil are suspending the oil drilling activities of U.S. energy giant Chevron following a recent oil spill off Rio de Janeiro state.
The country’s National Petroleum Agency made the announcement Wednesday, saying Chevron is banned from drilling until the causes of the leak are fully known.
The decision comes two days after Brazil […]
PARIS - A French train carrying 11 containers of reprocessed nuclear waste entered Germany Friday on its way to a storage site.
French authorities had stopped the train Thursday before it reached the German border, in hopes of avoiding protests over the radioactive material headed for storage in the northeastern German city of Gorleben.
Protesters have maintained […]
CAIRO - Thousands of protesters pushed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square and renewed calls for the departure of the ruling military council, despite new concessions from Egypt’s government.
Protesters waved banners and shouted “freedom, freedom” on Friday, just hours after the military council announced its selection of Kamal Ganzouri as prime minister. He previously held the post […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. citizens Thursday are celebrating their annual Thanksgiving holiday, a centuries-old harvest time tradition.
For the day of feasting that usually kicks off the winter holiday season - and triggers one of the busiest travel weeks of the year - Americans take to the air, railways and roads to visit family and friends.
The AAA […]
WASHINGTON - The United States said Tuesday it is halting information-sharing with Russia under the treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe, the CFE. Moscow stopped providing information on its forces four years ago.
Officials here say the United States is suspending data exchanges with Moscow on conventional force deployments in Europe and will bar Russian inspectors […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls debated how to deal with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran’s nuclear program in Washington Tuesday in their latest televised debate.
Questioned about U.S. aid to Pakistan, Texas Governor Rick Perry said he would cut the aid unless Pakistan proves it has America’s best interests in mind. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann responded […]
WASHINGTON - Under current U.S. law, automatic cuts to domestic programs and national defense will begin in 2013, because a congressional committee failed to agree on trimming America’s federal deficit. Already, many lawmakers say they want to shield favored federal programs from the budget ax, despite a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
A budget deal […]
PARIS - Danielle Mitterrand, a hero of the French Resistance and widow of former French President Francois Mitterrand, has died at the age of 87.
Mitterrand died early Tuesday after being hospitalized in Paris for several days. She helped redefine the role of first lady, and was known as a humanitarian and activist for the underdog.
Mrs. […]
MOSCOW - Iran and its powerful ally Russia have denounced new Western sanctions on Tehran’s financial, petrochemical and energy sectors, calling them illegal and futile.
The U.S., Canada, and Britain each announced new steps Monday to increase economic pressure against Iran in response to international concerns that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin […]
WASHINGTON - The United States, in concert with key allies, sharply tightened economic sanctions on Iran Monday to press Tehran to end a suspected drive for nuclear weapons. Britain and Canada joined the U.S. sanctions move, while other European countries are also planning punitive steps.
The combined actions were a show of resolve in the face […]
